Chip

Rumors of me being lost in an absinthe fog are greatly exaggerated! I have had a lot of family activity, but have managed to keep painting as well.  I've had several dog portrait commissions, and thought that you might enjoy seeing one of those in process.

My subject for this portrait is Chip, a beloved pet who grew up with his college age owner, and quietly passed away last year.  I received some text messages with reference photos, and the quality of the one I wanted to work from wasn't optimal.  The pose was wonderful, but I couldn't tell if he was tan or grey.

I did have two other photos, but Chip's color was washed out by the camera flash.  They seemed to indicate that there was a lot of tan in his coat, but I asked some questions to make sure that was the case.

The finished painting would be 6 x 6 inches. You can see that I first toned my canvas with orange and then did the drawing, putting in most of my values as I drew.

Then, I began to paint.....

At this point, I sent a photo to my client to check on his color.  The photo was passed onto one of Chip's family members who observed that Chip was actually very grey.  I just corrected the color I'd created so far to reflect his grey coat.  After a check on his eye color, I completed the piece.

6x6 inch oil commission                    $85 unframed

Actually, I think I tweaked some edges and his ear shapes after this, and now I can see that I need to carve the sides of his face out a little (when the owner brings it in for varnishing, I'll have a chance to do that), but otherwise, you get the idea! I hope that you enjoyed this little demo!